Gainesville can be a great place to live, but our level of inequality is unacceptable. Affordable housing is almost non-existent. The prosperity of our largest employers is not shared with the community. Environmental gains are cancelled by bad development and planning. Our loyal city staff struggle to find a voice to help represent us and do the work of the Commission.
Together we can change all of that. We need working people on the City Commission who understand what it’s like to have to use the bus to get to work. People who know what it’s like to live paycheck to paycheck. People like me and you. I want to join a growing majority on the City Commission who understands these issues.
I am a small business owner, and I’ve been a business/office manager and accountant for much of my life. I am a single mother of four strong children, and I work part time as a legal assistant. I know your struggle, and I will represent you. People who come to our City to make money can stand in line behind you, the people who make it work.
I serve on the Citizen’s Advisory Committee for Community Development and the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee for the City of Gainesville. My experience has shown me that yes, we have public meetings on development and planning, but they take place in difficult places at difficult hours when citizens who work full time cannot attend.
I will stand up for our residents and their neighborhoods, local businesses, trades people, workers, and local property owners, the people who are trying to survive financially as living costs skyrocket. City workers need living wages for all work, part-time or full-time. Working people need responsible transit-friendly growth in the urban core where they live and play. We need to focus on the development of services in neighborhoods that are under-served.
I will use my vote and voice as mayor to serve you, not the demands and plans of out-of-town corporations and developers. I will not ask prosperous public institutions and wealthy employers to contribute their fair share. I will demand it.
It’s time for change. As your next Mayor, I’m asking for your help to bring that change.